Assured health care is indeed vital for human development of individuals and economic development of nations. It must span a wide range of services — from health promotion and disease prevention to prompt detection of health disorders and early implementation of effective interventions to reduce risk and restore health. It must extend to rehabilitation services and palliative care where needed. Focus must be both on extending life expectancy (lifespan) and enabling people to live in good health till the end of a full and fulfilled life (health span). This will enable all individuals to be productive to their full potential, while ensuring a prosperous nation. Health of each Indian, across the entire life course, will be the engine that will propel our journey to Viksit Bharat by 2047.

But, as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recently pointed out, these services are not assuredly available to all persons in India. Speaking at the inauguration of Arogya Kendra and Cancer Care Centre in Indore, Bhagwat said, “Healthcare and education are among the most important things for a person, and both are beyond the reach of the common man in the present times.” Barriers of availability, access, cost and quality deter many persons from seeking needed healthcare (foregone care) or land them in poverty due to unaffordable “out of pocket” expenditure on chronic outpatient care or unforeseen catastrophic expenditure on hospitalised care. The Ayushman Bharat programme is working towards strengthening primary care through a network of health and wellness........

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